Huss wouldn’t be complete without Hunter

Hunter Huss had a player waiting at the scorer’s table ready to check in for Jerimiah Hunter during a game against South Point last season.

Hunter was still trying to get his legs under him after a lengthy layoff due to injury, but he was also making big contributions as the Huskies found themselves in a tight game against a conference opponent.

“The players ran by as they were playing and said, ‘Coach, you can’t take Jerimiah out,’” Huss coach Walt Wallace recalled. “I said, ‘If I don’t, he’s going to die.’”

So the Huskies rehydrated Hunter as quickly as possible and inserted him right back into the game, giving him a chance to help Huss pull out a 78-75 victory.

The point: Huss is a much better team with Hunter on the floor, and his teammates and coaches know it.

The Huskies are 35-5 in the past two seasons with Hunter in the game but only 6-9 without him. The 40-game stretch with an 87.5 winning percentage began after the 6-foot-4 forward missed the first 15 games of last season with a broken ankle. Hunter suffered the injury late in the football season against Forestview when he was running down field and another player was blocked into him.

The Oct. 21 injury kept him out of game action until the Jan. 13 basketball game against Ashbrook.

Huss sure missed Hunter, posting a 6-9 record before Hunter returned for the first Ashbrook game. The Huskies went 10-2 the rest of the way, winning the conference tournament and reaching the second round of the state playoffs.

“We were a different team after he came back,” Wallace said.

With Hunter having played in every game this season, the Huskies’ success has reached an even greater level as they visit the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for the 3A Western Regional championship against Statesville (24-3).

Hunter, a senior, leads the 25-3 Huskies in rebounding (7.0) and blocks (2.8) per game. He’s the second-leading steals generator at 2.6 per game and is the third-leading scorer at 14.0 points per game.

“I think I just open up everybody else’s scoring ability,” Hunter said. “Like in the middle, they crash down on me, and Jaelan (Kennedy) cuts and Drickus (Mackins) cuts and it opens them up, and it opens up O’Brian (Curry) and Kerrion (Moore) to shoot.”

Hunter, tied with two 6-4 teammates as the tallest on the team, is known for his athleticism, defense, shot blocking and big-play ability. He’s also known as one of the team’s most versatile players; the roster lists Hunter as a center, forward and guard.

“He may be as good a point guard as we have on the roster,” Wallace said. “We can easily play him at the point, and he has a good mentality for it. He’s a good passer and he has some leadership skill on the floor, too.”

Page 2 of 2 - Hunter said he’ll probably take the junior college route next year as Sandhills, Davidson County and Catawba Valley community colleges have expressed interest. Although he’s also a standout safety and wide receiver on the gridiron, he said he’s more likely to pursue basketball after graduation.

Until then, he relishes this week’s chance to play in the basketball regional for the first time. He was a sophomore on the junior varsity team when Huss advanced this deep in 2011, making Wednesday’s regional semifinal in Greensboro against Ashbrook his first experience on this stage.

Hunter looks forward to Saturday’s chance to claim a regional championship, which would position the Huskies one win away from a state title.

“It would mean a lot,” Hunter said. “Our coaches want it bad, we want it bad. It would mean a whole lot.”